New Product Announcement--->Empire Online

Empire Online

Empire Online enables undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and researchers to explore colonial history, politics, culture and society. Published in five thematic sections over the next four years, it offers a fully searchable database of primary resources which can be easily integrated into classroom and online teaching.


Section I: Cultural Contact, 1492-1969
Examining cultural contacts throughout five centuries of Empire, from Columbus to decolonisation, Section I draws upon manuscript sources such as the diaries and eyewitness accounts of European travellers, correspondence and periodical literature. It includes evidence from native populations and indigenous tribes in Africa, India, Canada, Australia and the South Pacific.

• Cultural Contacts, c.1492-1763
by Dr Julian Martin, Department of History & Classics, University of Alberta

• Cultural Contacts, c.1763-1969
by Dr Jane Samson, Department of History & Classics, University of Alberta

• Economic aspects of Empire
by Professor Alan Frost, Department of History, La Trobe University

Section II: Literature and Empire
Section II includes important texts describing the outreach and impact of colonial endeavour. There are writings by both pro- and anti-imperial authors, by agents of empire, by controllers of empire, and by imperial subjects. This section embraces poetry, prose and drama, including:

- Mary Kingsley’s The Story of West Africa (London, 1899)
- H Haggard Rider’s King Solomon’s Mines (London, 1885)
- M L Dube’s Adventures of a Sepoy (Agra, 1892)
- R C Praed’s Australian Life: Black and White (London, 1885)
- J S Borlase’s Saved by Shadows and Perils amongst Papuans from Stirring Tales
of Colonial Adventure (London, 1894)
- Paramesvara G Pillai’s London and Paris Through Indian Spectacles (Madras, 1897)
- Dasa Nandalala’s Reminiscences of England and Australia (Calcutta, 1893)
- Mary French Sheldon’s Sultan to Sultan, adventures among the Masai and other tribes
of East Africa (London, 1892)

• Children's Adventure Stories & the ideals of Empire
by Professor Christopher Gordon-Craig, Department of English, University of Alberta

• Pioneering Indian Women's Writing in English
by Dr Chandani Lokugé, Department of English, Monash University

• Women, Gender, Politics and the Literature of Empire
by Professor Angela Woollacott, Department of History, MacQuarie University

• The Literature of Empire - Africa
by Professor Oyekan Owomoyela, Department of English, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Section III: The Visible Empire

Section III looks at all aspects of the Visible Empire, and provides photographs and illustrations (over 5% of the images in this section are in colour) that relate to the art, architecture, representations of indigenous peoples, landscapes and natural history of colonial territories throughout the world.

* Empire Marketing Board Posters from The National Archives
* A Collection of Colour Plates Illustrative of African Scenery and Animals by Samuel Daniell (London, 1804)
* Narrative of the Indian Revolt From its Outbreak to the Capture of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell: Illustrated with nearly two hundred engravings from authentic sketches (London, 1858)
* Report on the Indian Section of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition 1886, by J. R. Royle (London, 1887)
* England and India Being Impressions of Persons and Things, English and Indian, and Brief Notes of Visits to France, Switzerland, Italy, and Ceylon, by Lala Baijnath (Bombay, 1893)

• The Visible Empire and the Empire at Home, c.1750-1960
by Dr Antoinette Burton, Department of History, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign

• The Imperial Canvas: Art and Empire
by Dr Romita Ray, Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia

• The Great Exhibition: Art, Display and the British Empire
by Dr Jeffrey Auerbach, Department of History, California State University at Northridge

Section IV: Religion and Empire (Winter 2005 - 2006)

Section IV features material on missionary work, indigenous churches, and the annexation of existing local beliefs and customs. There are documents on different regions in India and Africa, and on work amongst the Native American Indians in Canada. The Maoris, Aborigines and other tribes are covered in records on Australasia and the South Pacific. What was the role of religion in helping to spread the Empire?

The consultant editors for this section are listed below, along with a brief introduction to their editorial essays:

• Religion & Empire at home and abroad
by Professor Andrew Porter, King’s College, University of London

• Religion and Missions in South Africa and the Pacific
by Dr Tony Ballantyne, Department of History, University of Otago

• Religion and Empire with special reference to South Africa and Canada
by Dr Elizabeth Elbourne, Department of History, McGill University

Section V: Race, Class and Colonialism (Winter 2006/2007)

• Cultural Encounters: Speke, Burton, and Victorian Exploration
by Dane Kennedy, Department of History, George Washington University

• From Emancipation to Resistance: Colour, Class & Colonialism, 1870-1914
by Doug Lorimer, Department of History, Wilfred Laurier University

• Race, Gender and the British Empire
by Dr Madhavi Kale, Department of History, Bryn Mawr College